Next LBUSD board meeting is Tuesday The...

Next LBUSD board meeting is Tuesday

The next Laguna Beach Unified School District Board of Education

meeting will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the board room at the District

Educational Center, 550 Blumont St.

The board meeting will hold recognitions for Laguna Beach High

School and Thurston Middle School students: Sean DeGarmo, Mock Trial

Award; Megan Vick and Tyler Hathaway, Laguna Beach Junior Citizens of

the Year; Elliot Whalen, Patriots Day Parade program design; Chris

Reeves, Patriots Day Parade Essay Contest winner; Paul Hamera, Laguna

Beach High School website design.

Action items include: Purchase of technology and science lab

equipment in the amount of $487,844 from the designated general fund

reserve; change proposal requests specifying net amount related to

construction at Laguna Beach High School; authorize McCarthy Building

Companies, Inc. to release retention funds to Los Angeles

Engineering, Inc. related to work completed at Laguna Beach High

School baseball field.

Consent items include: 2005-06 school year district calendar;

agreements for contracted services for special education; board

policy 5040, the off-campus lunch policy.

For more information, call the district at (949) 497-7700.

LBHS baseball boosters seek help

The Laguna Beach High School Baseball Boosters is seeking help

from the community for its second annual Sandpiper Auction March 13

fundraiser at the Sandpiper.

This year’s event will have live entertainment donated again by

the Blue’s Offenders. The food has also been donated by several of

Laguna’s finest restaurants.

The baseball boosters are hoping to replace three stolen pitching

machines.

The boosters need donated items for the silent auction and the

raffle, which are in short supply. The success of the fundraiser

depends on donations. Any item would be appreciated and the boosters

will pick up any donation. For information, call Debbie Pickett at

(949) 494-7819.

The Sandpiper is at 1183 S. Coast Highway from 4 to 8 p.m. Tickets

are $35 in advance and $40 at the door.

Report from district construction project

The much needed renovations and improvements at Laguna schools

have been completed on time and within prescribed budgets.

Laguna Beach Unified Schools District Board of Education President

Jan Vickers lauds the work of many including the Independent Citizens

Oversight Committee, which is disbanding. The district appreciates

the community support shown by the passing of the bond. The $39

million was spent as planned by the stakeholders at each school. With

the monitoring of the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee,

projects were finished on time and without going over budget.

School board representatives served on the Independent Citizens

Oversight Committee and the board received quarterly written reports.

The scrutiny of the budget was detailed.

The project was funded by Measure R, state modernization funds,

Proposition 47 and by contributions from the city of Laguna Beach,

State Department of Parks and Recreation, Developer Fees and

Community Facilities District Funds related to Newport Coast

Development, which brought in excess of $58-million for much needed

repairs and improvements.

Players present

‘Bye Bye Birdie’

The Laguna Beach Park Avenue Players will present the 1960’s

musical “Bye Bye Birdie” at the Laguna Beach High School Artist’s

Theatre, 625 Park Ave., at 7:30 p.m. March 10, 11 and 12, at 2:30

p.m. March 13 and 20 and at 7:30 p.m. March 17, 18 and 19. For

tickets or information, call (949) 497-7769.

El Morro PTA seeks sponsorship

The El Morro Elementary School PTA is seeking business sponsorship

and community donations for its annual jog-a-thon fundraiser March

18. Donations will support PTA funded educational programs, including

Math Challenge, Class Act, Art Masters, Colonial Days and Science on

the Go. All sponsorship donations will receive public recognition.

For more information, call Stacy Gavin at (949) 499-1480,

stacygavin@yahoo.com or Melissa Cavanaugh at (949) 499-4893,

melissacavanaugh@cox.net.

Help for Hope concert by teens

Laguna teen bands are performing in concert to raise money for

cancer research at the City of Hope from 4 to 6 p.m. March 13 at the

Festival of Arts’ Forum Theater, 650 Laguna Canyon Road.

“Jill’s Bedroom,” consisting of seventh-graders Jake Johnson, lead

guitar; Andrew Levin, rhythm guitar; Tyler MacRae, bassist; Mike

Rubel, keyboard and Adam Selevan, drums, will play popular songs and

two originals.

“Avishore” band members Alec Jaffe, Justin Drucker and Zach

Singerman will be performing popular music.

Celena DelPizzo-Howell, an eight-grader at Thurston, will do a

solo performance, as will Brianna Krantz.

The teens are motivated to raise money for cancer research, having

several friends and relatives with cancer who received help from City

of Hope. Refreshments will be available. For tickets, information,

call (949) 494-4307.

St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School

St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School is pleased with the caliber

of the art program for its kindergarten through eighth-grade

students. The curriculum incorporates the “Meet the Masters” art

appreciation program with separate studio art projects, which develop

the students’ ability to apply art terms and concepts.

The “Meet the Masters” program, in its fourth year, presents the

life and work of seven master artists through an interactive slide

presentation series. The students create projects based on the ideas

seen in the spotlighted artist’s work. This year’s artists being

presented are: Renoid, Klee, Cezanne, da Vinci, Ringold, Chagall and

Seurate. Media explored include watercolor, oil pastel, tempera

paint, collage, watercolor crayon and mixed media.

Students also can participate in the school’s second annual

Pageant of the Masters, complete with the traditional Leonardo da

Vinci “Last Supper” finale. Backdrops are painted by the students,

while parents get involved making costumers, creating makeup and

lighting.

Art teachers Monica McQueen and Cynthia Carlson display framed

works by students in the school reception area, library and

classrooms.

St. Catherine’s school, 3090 S. Coast Highway. For information,

call (949) 494-7339.

Laguna students to at study Princeton

The Summer Institute for the Gifted will be offering a three-week

residential program held at Princeton University for the summer of

2005.

Princeton’s residential program will run from July 17 to Aug. 6.

There will be an open house at Princeton on April 2.

The three-week, co-educational summer programs are offered to

academically talented students in grades four through 11. The

deadline for applications is May 1.

For information about the residential program and all of the

Summer Institute for the Gifted programs, contact Amanda Ritz at

(866) 303-4744 ext. 5159 or by e-mail at aritz@aifs.com; or visit

website at https://www.giftedstudy.com.

A+ for Energy grant deadline is April 4

The A+ for Energy grant is available to Kindergarten through

12th-grade teachers in California to teach creative classroom,

after-school, extra-curricular, or summer activities focused on

energy education and conservation.

In 2004, Jennifer Merritt, a Laguna Beach High School teacher, won

$10,000 for her project, “Physics and Energy Go Hand-In-Hand.”

Teachers or school administrators may apply on behalf of teachers,

a single school site, or a school district. Any teacher teaching in a

California public or private school is eligible to submit an

application. Deadline is April 4. Applications for A+ for Energy are

available via the Internet at https://www.aplusforenergy.org.